The diagram is too long for the list in .eps format, so I'm resending
it with the diagram in .dia format. Let's hope it displays properly on
your system.
On Sat, 2018-08-18 at 15:03 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote:
On 08/18/18 13:55, Jonathan Ryshpan wrote:I have just replaced my
old
home router, which had stopped working, with a TrendnetAC1900 Dual
Band Wireless Router, model TEW-818DRU. I need to replace the
Trendnetrouter because I am totally unhappy with it. However, since
the Trendnet router wasrecommended by some sites which I usually
trust, like Cnet, I'm reaching out topeople who may know something
about networking. (I know very little.) Can anyonerecommend a router
that actually works?Let's start with the problems with the Trendnet
router. Here is the table ofconnected devices.*Wired Connected
Devices*# IP Address MAC Address Host Name1 192.1
68.10.102 C8:1F:66:0B:98:B4 Oaklandweather2 192.1
68.10.101 14:DD:A9:7E:4C:52 amito3 192.168.10.103 88:36
:5F:F7:0C:95 android-a81a750feb8c4486
The reason you are seeing the above is that when a device makes a
DHCP request itincludes as part of the request its "hostname". Your
router, like most routers,records this information in its list of
"DHCP Clients". That information is notmagically inserted into any
DNS server.
If a device connects to my router using DHCP the router knows the
device's name, which appears in the above table. If the router has a
DNS server it would make sense for this server to resolve the names of
the devices attached to the router. This appears to be the case for
the 2-Wire router in the diagram but not for the Trendnet router.
I downloaded the User Manual for the router and there is no
indication that itactually runs a "DNS Server". Like many routers,
it simply acts as a "resolver" and"cache" for DNS entries. It
actually passes the DNS queries to another server thatyou've
configured. Typically, that would be the DNS server of your ISP.
This is surely
correct and explains a number of things that I've
noticed.$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Generated by NetworkManager
search tew-818dru
nameserver 192.168.10.1I suspect that the domain tew-818dru is
maintained by Trendnet. In any case changes that I've made to the
router setup have no effect on it
1. What is the device android-a81a750feb8c4486? There are only two
devices connected to the router by wires. Very odd.
As already pointed out, that would be either an Android Phone or
Android Tablet.
I thought so too. But why an an Android Phone or Tablet shown in
a
table of Wired Connected Devices. I don't use any such devices.
2. The router has a DNS server in it. The server doesn't know
anything about any of these devices, so I will have to set up
/etc/hosts in all of the computers in the local net manually.
Trendnet customer support has informed me that this is not a bug
but a feature.
I use a Synology RT2600ac router which has an add-on DNS Server
package. It willallow you to make local DNS entries.
I actually don't use that package since I run a DNS server on my
Fedora system. Ithen use the feature in my router, which yours has
as well, to lock a MAC Address toa DHCP supplied IP address. And I
make the appropriate entries in the DNS server. Then, depending on
what I'm doing, the devices on my network will either query
therouter's DNS or my Fedora DNS. (A bit complex since I use proxy
DNS services frommy VPN provider to easily access non-local video
content)
This seems the best way to go. Provided I can ignore any worries about
what android-a81a750feb8c4486 is doing in the routing tables.
3. There are issues with the way the router's DHCP sets up the
attached computers so that searches aren't referred to higher
level servers in my local net. More devices have to be entered
into /etc/hosts by hand.
As I said, I don't think your router runs a real DNS server. See my
comments above.
I think you have resolved the situation.
Does anyone know what's going on here? Can anyone recommend a
router
that handlesnetworking properly and that puts out a strong signal for
my wireless hot spot?
I like my Synology Router.
Thanks for your long, prompt, and informative reply.
A diagram of my system is attached.
jon